SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REDUCING INFORMATION LOSS IN AN AGGREGATED INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM
An information handling system is provided. The information handling system includes at least one server, that includes a plurality of ports, wherein information is transmitted to and from the at least one server on the plurality of ports, and a memory storing a table, the table storing a status indication and port on which the status indication was received. The information handling system also includes a plurality of switches coupled to the at least one server to form a link aggregation group (LAG), the plurality of switches transmitting information including the status indication to the at least one server. If the server receives more than one status indication having a master status, the at least one server is configured to stop forwarding information on at least one port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication.
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1. Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein are related to systems and methods for reducing information loss in an aggregated information handling system. In particular, systems and methods disclosed herein may provide for systems and methods that remove members from a link aggregation group to reduce information loss in the event of a link failure.
2. Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
However, in certain information handling systems that are aggregated, link failures can result in a loss of information. In aggregated information handling systems that utilize stacked switches, additional problems can arise after a link failure, as information may be routed to a switch that is no longer connected to the stack due to the link failure. What is needed are systems and methods for reducing information loss in an aggregated information system after a link failure.
In the drawings, elements having the same designation have the same or similar functions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONIn the following description specific details are set forth describing certain embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. The specific embodiments presented are meant to be illustrative, but not limiting. One skilled in the art may realize other material that, although not specifically described herein, is within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.
Consistent with some embodiments, there is provided an information handling system. The information handling system includes at least one server, that includes a plurality of ports, wherein information is transmitted to and from the at least one server on the plurality of ports, and a memory storing a table, the table storing a status indication and port on which the status indication was received. The information handling system also includes a plurality of switches coupled to the at least one server to form a link aggregation group (LAG), the plurality of switches transmitting information including the status indication to the at least one server. If the server receives more than one status indication having a master status, the at least one server is configured to stop forwarding information on at least one port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication.
A method for maintaining a link aggregation group (LAG) is provided. The method includes transmitting, by switches that are members of the LAG, information including a status indication, receiving, by a server coupled to the switches, the transmitted information, storing, by the server, the status indication and a port on which the information including the status indication was received, and stopping, by the server, forwarding of information on a port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication if the server receives information from more than switch that includes a master status indication.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided. The medium includes instructions for execution by one or more processors that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for maintaining a link aggregation group (LAG). The method includes receiving transmitted information including a status indication, storing the status indication and a port on which the information including the status indication was received, and stopping forwarding of information on a port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication if more than one status indication has been received.
These and other embodiments will be described in further detail below with respect to the following figures.
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, read-only memory (ROM), and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
Consistent with some embodiments, switches 104 may be stacked switches. A switch stack is a group of switches that have been set up to operate together such that they show the characteristics of a single switch, but have the port capacity of the sum of the combined switches. The switch stack may share a single internet protocol (IP) address for remote administration of the stack. Moreover, to form a LAG, all of the switches in a stack may share the same bridge id so that it appears to a server that all of the ports in a LAG are connected to the same switch. In such an arrangement, stacked switches in a LAG may be indicated as being either a master switch or a slave switch, with one switch being the master switch and the remaining switches being slave switches. A switch stack may also be referred to as an Ethernet fabric.
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In operation, switches 104 organized as a stack 110 and coupled to server 102 over links 108 to form LAG 106, have a status of either being a master switch in stack 110 or a slave switch in stack 110, and write an indication of this status in optional TLVs 316 of packet 300. Packet 300 is transmitted from each switch 104 to server 102. Server 102 receives packet 300 on a port associated with a particular switch 104, determines the status of the transmitting switch, and then stores the status indication in optional TLVs 316 along with an associated port on which packet 300 was received in a memory, perhaps in a table in the memory. When server 102 stores the status indication, it will also check to see if it has stored two consecutive master status indications from two or more switches, and if more than one master status indication us seen by server 102, server 102 will check the previous entry on that port to see if the previous entry included a master or slave indication. If server 102 determines that any of the multiple master status indications included a slave indication on a previous entry, server 102 will determine that there has been a link failure, and stop forwarding information on the port associated with the current master status indication that had a previous slave status indication. Consistent with some embodiments, optional TLV 316 may also include a status indication as to whether the switch 104 from which packet 300 originates is a master or slave switch in stack 110, but also what switch 104 in stack 110 is the master that any slave switches are slaves to. In such embodiments, when server 102 sees more than one master status indication, server will stop forwarding stop forwarding information on the port associated with the current master status indication that had a previous slave status indication and any other ports that have also indicated that the port associated with the current master status indication that had a previous slave status indication is the master.
Returning to
Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as program code and/or data, may be stored on one or more machine-readable mediums, including non-transitory machine-readable medium. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may be implemented using one or more general purpose or specific purpose computers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may be changed, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-steps to provide features described herein.
Consequently, embodiments as described herein may provide. The examples provided above are exemplary only and are not intended to be limiting. One skilled in the art may readily devise other systems consistent with the disclosed embodiments which are intended to be within the scope of this disclosure. As such, the application is limited only by the following claims.
Claims
1. An information handling system, comprising:
- at least one server, the at least one server comprising: a plurality of ports, wherein information is transmitted to and from the at least one server on the plurality of ports; and a memory storing a table, the table storing a status indication and port on which the status indication was received;
- a plurality of switches coupled to the at least one server to form a link aggregation group (LAG), the plurality of switches transmitting information including the status indication to the at least one server, wherein: if the server receives more than one status indication having a master status, the at least one server is configured to stop forwarding information on at least one port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information comprises a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, the status indication being included in an information string of a payload of the LLDP packet.
3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the information string is in a reserved frame of the LLDP packet.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the LAG is an Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEEE) standard number 802.3ad compliant LAG.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein:
- the status indication further includes an indication as to which switch of the plurality of switches is a master switch; and
- the at least one server is further configured to stop forwarding information on all ports on which information is received indicating a switch as being the master switch, if the indicated master switch is a switch from which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication.
6. A method for maintaining a link aggregation group (LAG), comprising:
- transmitting, by switches that are members of the LAG, information including a status indication;
- receiving, by a server coupled to the switches, the transmitted information;
- storing, by the server, the status indication and a port on which the information including the status indication was received; and
- stopping, by the server, forwarding of information on a port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication if the server receives information from more than switch that includes a master status indication.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the information comprises a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, the status indication being included in an information string of a payload of the LLDP packet.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the information string is in a reserved frame of the LLDP packet.
9. The method according to claim 6, wherein:
- the status indication further includes an indication as to which switch of the plurality of switches is a master switch; and
- stopping, by the server, forwarding information on all ports on which information is received indicating a switch as being the master switch, if the indicated master switch is a switch from which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication.
10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the LAG is an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standard number 802.3ad compliant LAG.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions for execution by one or more processors that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for maintaining a link aggregation group (LAG), comprising:
- receiving transmitted information including a status indication;
- storing the status indication and a port on which the information including the status indication was received; and
- stopping forwarding of information on a port on which information including a master status indication has been received after previously receiving information that did not include a master status indication if more than one status indication has been received.
12. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the information comprises a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet, the status indication being included in an information string of a payload of the LLDP packet.
13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the information string is in a reserved frame of the LLDP packet.
14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, further comprising:
- stopping, by the server, forwarding information on all ports on which information is received having a master status indication that does not match the stored status indication.
15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein the LAG is an Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEEE) standard number 802.3ad compliant LAG.
16. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11, wherein storing the status indication and a port comprises storing the status and the port in a table.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 28, 2012
Publication Date: Jul 3, 2014
Patent Grant number: 9325608
Applicant: Dell Products L.P. (Round Rock, TX)
Inventors: Brian L. Gautreau (Round Rock, TX), Balaji R. Mittapalli (Cedar Park, TX)
Application Number: 13/730,520
International Classification: H04L 12/26 (20060101);